How to Read a Poem

In this witty, accessible book, Terry Eagleton argues that the art of reading poetry is as much in danger of becoming extinct as thatching or clog dancing. On the whole, students today are not taught how to be sensitive to language – how to read a poem with due attention to its tone, mood, pitch, pace, rhythm and texture, rather than just to ′what it says′. To demonstrate how this works in practice, the author takes a wide range of poems from the Renaissance to the present day and submits them to brilliantly illuminating close analysis. As one of the world′s leading literary theorists, Eagleton also summons the aid of such pioneering critics as the Russian Formalists to raise some provocative general questions: What is poetry, and how does it differ from prose? Is there a language peculiar to poetry? What exactly do we mean by imagery? Lucid, entertaining and full of insight, How To Read A Poem is designed to banish the intimidation that too often attends the subject of poetry, and in doing so to bring it into the personal possession of the students and the general reader.

Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. The Functions of Criticism. The End of Criticism? Politics and Rhetoric. The Death of Experience. 2. What is Poetry? Poetry and Prose. Poetry and Morality. Poetry and Fiction. Poetry and Pragmatism. Poetic Language. 3. Formalists . Literariness. Estrangement. The Semiotics of Yury Lotman. The Incarnational Fallacy. 4 . In Pursuit of Form . The Meaning of Form. Form Versus Content. Form as Transcending Content. Poetry and Performance. Two American Examples. 5. How to Read a Poem. Is Criticism Just Subjective. Estrangement. Tone, Mood and Pitch. Intensity and Pace. Texture. Syntax, Grammar and Punctuation. Ambiguity. Punctuation. Rhyme. Rhythm and Metre. Imagery. 6. Four Nature Poems. ‘Ode to Evening’. ‘The Solitary Reaper’. ‘God’s Grandeur’. ‘Fifty Faggots’. Glossary. Index.

Terry Eagleton is John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester. His recent publications include The English Novel (2004), Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic (2003), The Idea of Culture (2000), Scholars and Rebels in Nineteenth–Century Ireland (1999), Literary Theory: An Introduction (Second Edition, 1996) and The Illusions of Postmodernism (1996), all published by Blackwell Publishing.

"The wit he brings to the task of helping readers read poems will, for some readers (myself included), be a source of pleasure." ( Notes and Queries, June 2010) “Eagleton raises many interesting points” – Choice “A how–to book with an agenda. Smart, witty and provocative ... How to Read a Poem challenges us not only to look again at poetic form, but also to bring aesthetics back into our discussions fo what makes a poem worth studying. We may not agree with Eagleton, but we would do well to accept his challenge."– College Literature "Illuminating."– The Times